A great accountant, coach, lawyer, designer, etc., can sell her time for 3 times or 5 times more than a good one. She is also likely to have a waiting list, whilst her lower priced competitors are pestering people for leads at networking events.

From good to great

Great service providers earn more, work with better clients and attract more referrals… far more referrals than they need. Why then, are there so many good providers out there and so few great ones?

It looks like this:

Good feels familiar and comfortable. A good provider is someone who works hard, doing what’s expected of them, as well as they can. They were trained at school that you got the best results, if you fit in and studied hard. So, they took that mindset into the workplace.

Great feels risky and uncomfortable. A great provider is someone who stands out, by adopting the opposite approach to the good providers. They lead. They embrace change. They do work, which is meaningfully different. There’s no guidebook or dummies guide on how to be great, so they navigate their own route.

A great mindset or a good one?

Good service providers and great service providers are separated not by intelligence or work ethic, but by their mindsets. This difference in their mindsets is reflected in their decisions, causing them and their work to either blend in, or stand out.

I was prompted to write today’s post, after reading Dr Seuss with my son. Here’s a quote he really enjoyed:

“You’re off to great places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way!”

That’s a very good example of the mindset behind great service providers. A little risky, sure… but massively more exciting and rewarding.